On the rationality of the OPERA experiment as a signal of Lorentz violation

TL;DR

This paper examines the theoretical plausibility of superluminal muon neutrinos reported by the OPERA experiment, arguing that the refutations based on certain assumptions are not universally valid, and discusses compatibility with other experimental results.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis showing the OPERA superluminal neutrino results can be consistent with existing physics, challenging previous refutations.

Findings

Superluminal muon neutrinos can exist theoretically.

Refutations based on implicit assumptions are not universally valid.

OPERA results can coexist with ICARUS findings.

Abstract

We show that the superluminal muon neutrinos in the recent OPERA experiment can exist theoretically. The refutation of the OPERA experiment from some theoretical arguments is not universally valid, but resulting from some implicit assumptions. Our argument can accommodate both the OPERA experiment for superluminal neutrinos and the ICARUS experiment of no evidence for the analogues Cherenkov radiation of muon neutrinos from CERN to the LNGS.